Did states live up to hopes for ESSA?

DID STATES BLOW AN OPPORTUNITY WITH ESSA PLANS? Dozens of bipartisan education policy experts have reviewed 34 state plans that were submitted to the federal government under the Every Student Succeeds Act this fall. Their conclusion? States kind of blew it. While there were bright spots, reviewers mostly found state ESSA plans to be “uncreative, unambitious, unclear, or unfinished,” according to an executive summary of an analysis released today by the nonprofits Bellwether Education Partners and the Collaborative for Student Success. The plans detail how states will hold schools accountable for student learning and progress, among other things. Check out the new analysis.

Story Continued Below

— The two nonprofits this year convened a number of experts for an independent review of state plans, releasing in June the first analysis of 16 states and Washington, D.C., that finalized plans this past spring. The rest of states, which finalized plans in fall, weren’t more thoughtful with the extra time, the reviewers concluded.

— Gini Pupo-Walker, senior director of education policy and strategic growth for the nonprofit Conexión Américas and one of the reviewers, found state plans lacking when it came to articulating a clear, overarching vision, right down to details like how states will support low-performing schools and English language learners. State education leaders, like California State Board President Michael Kirst, have previously stressed that their ESSA plans aren’t meant to detail a complete vision. They satisfy only what the federal government needs to know and act as a complement to previously established state plans and goals, the leaders say.

— But the reviewers convened by Bellwether and the Collaborative said states should’ve seized ESSA as an opportunity to go above and beyond when laying out a new vision for education and improvement. Instead, many states treated ESSA as a compliance exercise, the reviewers said. “I think this is just a complete missed opportunity,” Pupo-Walker said. Doug Mesecar, a former Education Department official under President George W. Bush who’s now an adjunct scholar at the Lexington Institute, said, “Some states seemed to put in as little as they can possibly get away with while still getting approved. I think that’s a disappointment.”

— On English language learners, Pupo-Walker said states generally seemed to be checking boxes. ESSA requires that states, for the first time, report and track whether those students are making progress toward learning English. As with overarching goals for all students, states didn’t provide much context to help outsiders determine whether they’re setting ambitious goals for English language learners, she said. That being said, “you see a lack of capacity among states in terms of resources and staff to really help districts and schools get at English language proficiency,” Pupo-Walker said.

— Across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., the review by Bellwether and Collaborative found that 15 states lack “clear, easy-to-understand ratings for all schools.” A dozen state plans show large gaps between their goals for graduating high school students on time and whether those students are actually ready for college. Twenty states don’t spell out consequences when schools fail to meet a federal requirement that they test 95 percent of students on annual state exams. And 41 states fail to incorporate how all groups of students are performing in school ratings, the analysis found.

— When it comes to bright spots, Mesecar said New York was thoughtful in spelling out support for low-performing schools. New York Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia told Morning Education in September that help for struggling schools, rather than just calling them out for poor performance, is a key part of the state’s plan. “The whole idea of being more supportive of what’s happening or not happening in the school district is a critical part of our plan,” she said at the time. “Naming and calling a school low-performing isn’t changing the circumstances for a lot of children.”

— Speaking of ESSA, the Center on Education Policy at The George Washington University finds in a survey of 45 states that most state education leaders believe the law brings a heavier workload as states struggle with limited resources. State education leaders worry they don’t have the funding, staffing or expertise to fully implement the law. More here.

GUIDE TO EXECUTIVE BRANCH: From fully grasping the executive branch’s role in regulations and budgeting to understanding what exactly an executive order is — the executive branch is complex. Whether you want to brush up on all things executive branch or need to quickly explain it to someone, this essential guide has you covered. DOWNLOAD YOUR GUIDE TO THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH.

HUNKER DOWN FOR MARATHON MARKUP: Lawmakers on the House education committee today begin marking up the GOP bill to reauthorize the Higher Education Act — a process Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) expects to go “into the wee hours of the morning.”

— Democrats and Republicans are expected to offer dozens of amendments to the legislation, H.R. 4508 (115), starting at 10 a.m. A document floated Monday by outside groups previews 21 possible but not yet finalized Republican amendments. “We’re going to mark up till we finish — whatever time it is Wednesday morning,” Foxx said. “We’re expecting to go into the wee hours of the morning.”

— Foxx said Monday night she expects her bill will clear the panel this week and debut on the House floor in 2018. “We’ll get it out of committee,” she told reporters. “And then we’ll work with the majority leader next year to see what we can do to get floor time.”

— The fast pace isn’t sitting well with Democrats and higher education groups. Monday afternoon, a coalition of 37 higher education groups, led by the American Council on Education, urged Foxx to delay the markup, arguing that the bill needed more public input before a committee vote. “Despite the fact that reauthorization is already several years behind schedule, this bill is suddenly being rushed through committee,” Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, wrote in a letter to the committee. He added that the legislation “would make higher education more expensive for millions of students and families” and that it would make significant changes to federal law “without a clear understanding of the likely consequences.” The Congressional Budget Office hasn’t yet scored the legislation.

— In response to the criticism, Foxx said Monday night that the bill is “pretty straightforward,” and if implemented, would be “very close to revenue neutral.” She has pitched the legislation as a way to make sure that both traditional colleges and alternative education providers do a better job of preparing students for the workforce. More from Pro’s Michael Stratford.

COLLEGES RALLY FOR ‘DREAMER’ FIX: A coalition of more than two dozen university and college presidents will band together to find a solution for so-called DREAMers brought to the United States as children, organizers tell Pro’s Ted Hesson. The coalition, dubbed the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, includes top officials from the California State University system and Utah State University, as well as presidents from Harvard, Princeton, Georgetown and George Washington University. The formation of the group, which will be announced today, comes after more than 700 college presidents signed a statement released last month in support of undocumented immigrants that was circulated by Pomona College in California.

— While the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which shields DREAMers from deportation, will be an immediate priority, the group will more broadly highlight the role immigrant students and educators play in higher education. In addition to DACA, the alliance will focus on policies such as “optional practical training,” which allows certain students to work legally for a year as part of the educational process, and the availability of H-1B visas for specialized workers. The alliance will also advocate for both federal and state measures that better serve foreign-born students, according to Louis Caldera, a senior fellow at GW’s Cisneros Hispanic Leadership Institute, which is spearheading the effort.

— Nancy Cantor, chancellor of Rutgers University-Newark, told POLITICO that higher education sits at “ground zero” of the immigration debate. “In my university, we have no racial or ethnic majority group,” said Cantor, a member of the group’s steering committee. “We have an incredibly diverse student body. And those students, they’re going to be America’s leaders.” Cantor remains optimistic that Congress could tackle a range of immigration issues in coming years. She points to the economic case and innovation spurred by immigration. “We don’t want to lose that,” she said. Find more info at 8 a.m. here.

ZUCKERBERG’S CZI MOVES AHEAD WITH PERSONALIZED LEARNING: The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is forging ahead on personalized learning, President for Education Jim Shelton wrote in a Medium post. Shelton wrote that the organization’s work to create “student centered learning experiences” will focus in the near term on investments in tools that help students move at their own pace and give teachers “high-quality” data about student progress.

— “Skeptics of personalized learning will argue that it’s not a proven strategy — by which they mean that the field has not produced a single set of strategies that work on a wide scale. To some extent, that’s true,” Shelton wrote. “There are pieces that are having encouraging impact, powered by great schools, great teachers, and great tools. But the work of bringing those pieces together, and of helping everyone learn much faster from what’s working — that’s the work we’re committed to continuing and much of it lies ahead.”

CHICAGO SCHOOLS’ TOP EXECUTIVE RESIGNS: Chicago Public Schools’ Chief Executive Officer Forrest Claypool will step down from the post amid allegations of wrongdoing. Claypool was Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s pick to succeed former CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett, who left the post in 2015 and was eventually sentenced to prison for her role in a kickback scheme involving the district.

— Claypool announced his decision Friday, just days after an internal audit accused him of covering up a conflict of interest between the district’s top lawyer and an outside law firm contracted to represent the district, the Chicago Tribune reports. The district’s chief education officer, Janice Jackson, was named interim CEO.

GUILTY PLEA IN FINANCIAL AID HACKING CASE: The Louisiana private detective charged with attempting to hack President Donald Trump's tax returns using a financial aid tool pleaded guilty Monday to false representation of a Social Security number, according to the Justice Department. Jordan Hamlett now faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine following his guilty plea in federal court. More from The Associated Press.

— As we’ve previously reported, authorities say Hamlett attempted unsuccessfully to download Trump’s tax returns using the IRS data retrieval tool. The tool allows students and families to automatically input their tax information when applying for federal financial aid. It was taken offline in March, but was later restored.

REPORT ROLL CALL

— The nonprofit Bellwether Education Partners is out with a new paper exploring models of coaching to improve instruction in early childhood education.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

— Save the Children Action Network President Mark Shriver will now lead the network as its chief executive officer. The organization tapped Kris Perry to serve as president. Perry comes from the First Five Years Fund, where she now serves as its executive director.

— Gerard Robinson, a resident fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute and former Virginia secretary of education, has been named executive director of the Center for Advancing Opportunity, a research and education initiative stemming from a partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the Charles Koch Foundation and Koch Industries.

— Valerie Jarrett, former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, will join the University of Chicago Law School as a distinguished senior fellow.

— Nebraska Education Commissioner Matthew Blomstedthas joined the board of directors for the Council of Chief State School Officers, an organization that represents state education chiefs nationwide.

— Student Veterans of America has appointed four new members to its board of directors: Sherry Shi, a software developer at IBM and former Army sergeant; Fontaine Wilson, an operational excellence engineer at MRC Global and former Navy nuclear machinist mate; Kate Kohler, principal at Korn Ferry and former military police officer in the Army; and Jared Lyon, the group’s president and CEO.

About The Author : Mel Leonor

Mel covers education policy at POLITICO.

Before joining the team, Mel covered education and local government at the Naples Daily News and the Miami Herald, with prior stints at CNN and the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in South Florida, Mel is also a graduate of Florida International University.